Pitch or Ditch for Friday, June 4

Pitch
or Ditch is a strategy for (ideally) daily mixed leagues in which you
pick up
starters on a day-to-day basis based on how well they are pitching and
their
upcoming matchups, then cut them in favor of new guys the next guy. The
concept
is that the shallower the league, the more quality starting pitching is
available on the free agent wire, so rather than drafting expensive
starters,
it’s better to build a strong offense and bullpen and let the free agent
wire
populate your starting staff during the season. As a bonus, a handful of
“PoD”
guys emerge each year as worth keeping all year long, like Jair Jurrjens
last
year or Cliff Lee in ’08.__________________________________________________________________________________POD Category Chart

SIANO’S PICKS

Buchholz @ Tillman

Burnett @ Cecil *Cecil red hot and at home but
ya never know when Yanks come to town. Proceed w/ caution.

W. Davis @ Wilson *This has softball game written all over
it I’m not taking the chance.

Masterson @ Danks

Scherzer @ Chen *Max has the momentum and the
opponent, might be a little risky but I say do it.

***Cory says “I’ll
agree with Siano’s picks across the board, although I’m a little more optimistic
about Davis vs. Wilson and a little less so about Harang, but not enough to
argue the other way on any of them.”

16 Comments

Two months ago, I never thought I’d be saying this but I actually wouldn’t make that trade. Reynolds may go on to hit 40 homers but his low AVG is so damaging that it almost isn’t worth it. Konerko’s having a huge contract year, and even if he finishes, with, say, 32 homers (and this looks like a conservative projection), he’ll post a respectable AVG. I’d rather have the 30 points in AVG than the eight homers.

What do you think of the following matchups I have made for next week? That PoD Category Chart was pretty helpful since I plan on starting 3 Aces, a Grad, and Strasburg (Any idea what to categorize him as? Too soon to tell?) and Gallardo (Ace), Niemann (Grad) and Strasburg all have 2 matchups next week. Here are my starting 5 and 3 backups. I’m interested in your opinions and if any changes should be made.

Hey guys have a lot of pitching and am having trouble trading it for an upgrade in offense. Have been offering an arm and a bat for a better bat (so I get the better bat) as a 2 for 1 and similarly also 3 for 2s. But noones biting or even countering.

Im targeting the guys who need pitching, is there anything more I can do? It’s difficult to determine fairness of trades I find with 2 for 1s, would say Johan and Magglio for Braun be about fair value?

Nope. Pujols is the clear-cut #1 player in fantasy. To trade him, you would need more in return than just Halladay. Even though Halladay is in the midst of an insanely good year (second-best to Ubaldo), I’ll always opt for the hitter over the pitcher. In my mind, Albert is pretty much untradeable.
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pdtraina,

Yeah, I’d do that. I threw out 30-100 as best case scenario for Ortiz but you’re getting back more than enough here. It’s very possible that Magglio has a better year than Papi plus you get Hamels. Cole’s numbers aren’t that pretty right now but a .333 BABIP suggests that he’s pitched into some bad luck this year. Expect #2 SP type production by season’s end.
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Glenn,

Totally agree with those pitcher choices. I think it’s safe to think of Strasburg as a POD grad right off the bat but this is obviously subject to change depending on his first few starts. I’d start him next week though, especially since it’s a two-start week.
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abuonann,

Assuming that you have an open spot on your roster elsewhere (CI or Util?), and the player you’d be benching isn’t too significant, I’d do the deal. This is a classic pitcher for hitter trade where the values are close but the hitter gets the edge. Keep in mind that you could also shift Youk to 1B, depending of course on what the rest of your lineup looks like.
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Big Barry,

Yeah, it’s often tough to find matches in those situations as owners are generally wary of any trade in which they’re giving up the best player. You can try that offer for Braun but I really doubt that it’ll be accepted. Just keep floating trades out there. Really nothing else you can do. I’m in a few leagues where no one likes to make any trades and it’s frustrating, I know.
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frankiejay,

I’d have to go with Lopez at this point as he’s actually showing some signs of life while Hill continues to struggle, though Hill has the higher upside. I’m just not convinced that he can right the ship.

I’m struggling with my closers as I have Jenks, Qualls, and Wood. Should I drop Wieters and add Contreras (hoping Lidge falters), or maybe pick up Frasor, Downs, Lyon, Heilman, Rodney? I’ve tried to trade Wieters but there are no takers.

I have Pujols, Morneau, and Votto on my team and looking to shop one of them for some pitching. What do you think I can expect in return? 12 team 5×5. I currently have J Johnson, Hudson, Marmol, Dotel, Rauch, Andrew Bailey, E Santana, Randy Wells, Jurrjens, and Street on the DL. The league seems to overvalue pitching right now so I’m afraid of having to give up too much to get a good arm. I’m at the top of all offensive categories but middle of the road for pitching.

No way does that first offer get accepted but I’d actually take the counteroffer. Let’s say Utley came into the season as the clear-cut #1 2B but let’s for arguments sake call Cano to Utley a wash considering Cano’s ridiculous start. Then it comes down to A-Gon and Figgins for Zimmerman. I like it. Figgins is starting to come around (9 hits over his last 26 ABs with two steals) and he’s got enough of a track record for us to think he’s due for a hot streak. A-Gon’s stock is very low right now so you’re getting him at a discount as well.
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maysways,

I’m not giving up on Wieters just yet. Not really high on any of those closer candidates and relying on Posey for the long haul is a bit risky. Who knows, there’s even a chance he gets sent back down once DeRosa comes off the DL.

Depends on which one of those 1Bs you’re willing to deal but I think you should be getting back a legit ace regardless. Go ahead and throw some offers out there (preferably not your best offers) just to get a feel for the market.
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Adam,

I’ll go with Granderson/Bruce. Not lopsided but I didn’t have to think too long about this one!

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